Let me put it this way: I made two loaves one afternoon. They were gone by the morning. Let me try again: I brought a loaf to a girls night. The four of us easily ate 3/4 of it in two hours. I may or may not have finished it off when I got home. Here's another scenario: I pulled a fresh loaf out of the oven, a friend stopped by, chat chat chat, 30 minutes later, out the door, and half a loaf is gone.

This recipe is YUM! It's deceivingly simple, because it packs in layers of sophisticated flavor. The yogurt in the cake adds this fabulous complexity and depth. And unlike in other cakes, where the yogurt adds moisture but the flavor is lost, this one really tastes like yogurt (thanks in part to the yogurt drizzle, but largely to the cake's straight-up simplicity). When I showed up at that girls night, placed the serving board down on the table, and announced it was a yogurt cake, the proclamation was met with an, "Oh, so it's healthy, right?" Oh yes, you can bet this one is healthy. You will feel so good eating this cake. It will do wonders for your soul. It works magic on your mood. You definitely need this yogurt cake in your life.

Here's another reason why you will love this cake: It's not too sweet and it's easily adaptable to the flavors in your fridge. Does your daughter survive on strawberry yogurt and clementines alone? (Raising hands over here.) Great! You can make this cake with strawberry yogurt and clementines. Do you like to eat your homemade yogurt every morning with half a grapefruit? No problem - make this cake with plain yogurt, bump up the sugar, and use grapefruits for the zingy citrus glaze. I explain it all below.

Yogurt Cake with Citrus Glaze and Yogurt Drizzle

Ingredients

[For the cake:]

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup white sugar (increase to 1 cup if using plain yogurt)

1 cup yogurt (see note)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

Zest of one citrus fruit (see note)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

[For the citrus glaze:]

1/4 cup fresh squeezed citrus juice (see note)

2 tablespoons of sugar (increase to 4 tablespoons if using juice of a tart grapefruit, lemon or lime)

[For the yogurt drizzle:]

1 tablespoon yogurt

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon citrus juice (see note)

Pinch kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, yogurt, oil, eggs, zest, and vanilla.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix. Pour into prepared pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.

Prepare the citrus glaze. While the cake is baking, in a small saucepan set over medium heat, whisk together the citrus juice and sugar. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer until very slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen the sides, and flip the cake out onto a cooling rack. (Before proceeding to the next step, you can set the cooling rack over a baking sheet to catch the dripping glaze.) Slowly brush the still-warm cake all over with glaze, allowing it all to soak in. The slower you go, the more you can get to soak in -- but it's okay if some of it drips down.

Make the yogurt drizzle. When the cake is completely cool, whisk together the 1 tablespoon yogurt, powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon citrus juice and pinch of salt. Drizzle over top of cake. Enjoy!

A note on this recipe: This recipe is endlessly adaptable to the ingredients you have on hand. For instance, I like to use strawberry Greek-style yogurt and the zest and juice of a clementine or lemon, because those are the things I usually keep in stock in my fridge. You could easily swap in vanilla or lemon flavored yogurt, and the zest and juice of an orange or grapefruit. Honestly, I can’t think of a combination that wouldn’t be delicious! Blueberry-lime. Lemon and blood-orange. Vanilla and grapefruit. (Provided, of course, you stick to classic flavors. I don’t think a salted-caramel yogurt would mesh with lime, so please don’t do that.)

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